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RE: [RC] Sponging - Peery, SandraFrom a chemistry standpoint, when the water evaporates, the water molecule must absorb heat from the horse in order to shift from liquid state to the gas state. This is one reason why your body sweats, same end result when your sweat evaporates. Wiping off the excess water encourages more rapid evaporation and thus more rapid heat removal.
From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxx on behalf of Michelle Aquilino Sent: Wed 2009-02-11 10:21 To: ridecamp Subject: Re: [RC] Sponging I live in VA, so it's always humid when it's hot, lol. I don't sponge, but rather use a water bottle to squirt the water on my horse's neck (but for the purpose of this discussion, it's similar enough). I always follow the squirt with wiping the water off (just with my hands). While I'm guessing the process is not AS effective as in non-humid weather, my understanding is that the water absorbs some of the horse's body heat, and then when you wipe it off, you're effectively removing some heat, and thus hopefully making them feel a tad cooler. But I will be interested to hear what some more knowledgeable people have to say about the subject =)
-- "Don't breed or buy while shelter animals die"
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